As of 1 July 2015, we say goodbye to our well known "immi" and the website for the Department of Immigration & Border Protection will be www.border.gov.au

1 July 2015 the Department of Immigration and Border Protection and the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service are integrating into a single organisation - the Department of Immigration and Border Protection and the Australian Border Force will be established within the Department.

1 July 2015 email addresses will change from '@immi.gov.au' or '@customs.gov.au' to '@border.gov.au'.

To support the integration, a new website will be launched at www.border.gov.au. From this date, internet searches for immi.gov.au and customs.gov.au will redirect to the new address.

Design
The new website will combine information from the Department and ACBPS websites and include new information about the ABF.

The website will have a new look and feel and will be optimised for mobile devices. There will be ongoing updates to the website after 1 July 2015.

Some pages will automatically redirected to the new location. You will need to fix any broken links, bookmarks or favourites in your system from 1 July 2015. The new URLs to specific web pages will not be available before this date.

Content
Some other websites owned by the Department will remain in their current form. These include the Minister's and Assistant Minister's websites, the Translating and Interpreting Service website and the Office of the MARA website.

Content from other sites owned by the Department will be integrated with the new website. For example, products and information on citizenship.gov.au and cargosupport.gov.au will be moved to the new website.

Email addresses
As part of this change, the Department's email domain will change to firstname.lastname@border.gov.au. While information sent to existing @immi.gov.au and @customs.gov.au email addresses will be delivered to the intended recipients at border.gov.au, please update your contact details for the Department on 1 July 2015.

Applications
Applications that are currently accessed using the immi.gov.au or customs.gov.au websites, such as ImmiAccount, VEVO, ICS or the Customs Connect Facility, will not be affected by this change and will continue to function as normal.

Until 1 July 2015, feedback or questions can be provided using the online feedback form.​​​​​​​​​​​

The Migration Review Tribunal and Refugee Review Tribunal will become part of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) on 1 July 2015. We will be known as the Migration and Refugee Division of the AAT.

From 1 July 2015, the fee payable when lodging an application with the Migration and Refugee Division of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, for review of all visa refusals and cancellations, except protection visas, will increase to $1,673.

The fee payable after an unfavourable review decision is made by the Migration and Refugee Division in relation to a protection visa will also be $1,673.

In cases where a 50% fee reduction is granted the reduced fee will be $836.50.
Application fees are required by law to be adjusted every two years in line with the Consumer Price Index.

• +2.3% on visas which face strong international competition or have been impacted by recent price increases. e.g. Visas within the Permanent Migration Skill Stream, Skilled Graduate, Temporary Long Stay Business (Subclass 457), Visitor and Student visa streams.

• +5% on visas which continue to see strong demand despite previous increases, or are likely to see a sustained volume increase through policy changes under consideration. e.g. Visas within the Temporary Resident Short Term Business and Entertainment visas, Working Holiday visas, Resident Return and Retirement Investor visas, and Contributory Parent visa streams.

The occupations lists for the 2015-16 Program Year was released yesterday. This will apply for applications from 1 July 2015, and includes changes to both the Skilled Occupations List (SOL) and the Consolidated Sponsored Occupations List (CSOL).

These occupations have been on the SOL for a significant amount of time and will greatly impact those in these specialisations. **However, they may still be eligible for state or employer sponsored options as the occupations remain on the CSOL.

OCCUPATION CEILINGS apply ONLY to Skilled-Inpendent (subclass 189) and Skilled-Regional provisional (subclass 489) visas.NEW Occupation Ceilings announced…..with bad news for some
-Accountants reduced by 54% to 2525 places
-Registered Nurses reduced by 8% to 1170 places
-Dentists removed from list
Good news for others
-Metal fitters and machinists increased by 18% to 1254 places
-Plumbers increased by 15% to 666 places
-Panelbeaters and Cabinetmakers added to list
NO FURTHER invitations will be issued for the 189 and 489 visas until the NEXT financial year (2016-17) for:
- ICT Business and Systems Analysts
-Accountants
-Software and Applications Programmers
as occupation ceilings have been reached for 2015-16.

Skilled Occupations List (SOL)

You must nominate an occupation from the Skilled Occupations List (SOL) if you are applying for an Independent or Family Sponsored Points Tested visa or Temporary Graduate (subclass 485) – Graduate Work Stream.
Applicants who require a skills assessment as part of their visa application must contact a relevant assessing authority directly to obtain a skill assessment. The assessing authority will provide all necessary applications forms and associated information relating to the assessment.
There will be a charge by the assessing authorities for the assessment.

Australian Council of Physiotherapy Regulating Authorities Ltd/Australian Physiotherapy Council

ACPSEM

Australasian College of Physical Scientist and Engineers in Medicine

ACS

Australian Computer Society

ACWA

Australian Community Workers Association

ADC

Australian Dental Council

AIM

Australian Institute of Management

AIMS

Australian Institute of Medical Scientists

AIQS

Australian Institute of Quantity Surveyors

AIR

Australian Institute of Radiography

AITSL

Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership

AMSA

Australian Maritime Safety Authority

ANMAC

Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Council

ANZOC

Australian and New Zealand Osteopathic Council (name changed to Australasian Osteopathic Accreditation Council)

ANZSNM

Australian and New Zealand Society of Nuclear Medicine

APharmC

Australian Pharmacy Council

APodC/ANZPAC

Australasian Podiatry Council/Australian and New Zealand Podiatry Accreditation Council Inc.

APS

Australian Psychological Society

AVBC

Australasian Veterinary Boards Council Inc.

CASA

Civil Aviation Safety Authority

CCEA

Council on Chiropractic Education Australasia Inc.

CPAA

Certified Practising Accountants Australia

DAA

Dieticians Association of Australia

EngineersAustralia

Institution of Engineers, Australia

ICAA

Institute of Chartered Accountants of Australia (name changed to Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand)

IPA

Institute of Public Accountants

NAATI

National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters

OCANZ

Optometry Council of Australia and New Zealand

OTC

Occupational Therapy Council

SLAA

State Legal Admission Authority

SPA

Speech Pathology Association of Australia

SSSI

Surveying and Spatial Sciences Institute

TRA

Trades Recognition Australia

VETASSESS

Vocational Education and Training Assessment Services

2. ANZSCO means the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics and current as at 1 July 2013.
3. nec means "not elsewhere classified".
4. *** indicates that the occupation excludes positions in fast food or takeaway food service.​

To attract and retain vital health services in rural areas, there is an exemption to the age requirement for eligible medical practitioners who are 50 years of age and over, work in regional Australia and who want to apply for subclass 186 visa and subclass 187 visa.

From 1 July 2015, the age exemption available to medical practitioners in regional Australia will no longer require employment with the same employer while holding a Temporary Work (skilled) subclass 457 visa or a Medical Practitioner (temporary) subclass 422 visa.

Medical practitioners who are applying for a subclass 186 or subclass 187 visa must demonstrate at least four years employment in the nominated occupation. These medical practitioners must demonstrate that at least two years of the required four years employment was located in regional Australia and the nominated position will also be located in regional Australia.

See more information about subclass 186, subclass 187 and subclass 457

ps *Increases in Citizenship by Descent application fees.
The application fee related to applications by Form 118 is now:
$230 for the first child
$230 for the second child
$95 for the third child and thereafter.
Please note applications must be lodged together for the discount to be grant